Researchers have identified the 25 US countries that are the most likely to experience measles outbreaks this year, based on factors like low vaccination rates and a high number of travelers in the area.

The researchers said that their results "correctly predicted the areas in Washington, Oregon, and New York that have had major measles outbreaks" already this year.

The paper's lead author, Sahotra Sarkar, a philosophy and integrative biology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said that this increase could result in deaths in the US: "We are set to see over 1,000 cases in the US in 2019. So, for the first time since the 1980s, we may expect infant deaths from measles in the US."

Measles cannot be treated, though doctors can treat the symptoms, which include a fever, coughing, and rashes. It can be deadly in some cases, causing potentially fatal brain swelling in about 1 in 1,000 people that get the virus.

A baby with measles in the hospital in Manila, the Philippines, in early 2014. Jim Goodson, M.P.H. / CDC

Sarkar said: "Anti-vaxxers are denying the best and very successful medical science we have and choosing instead to rely on fraudulent claims, such as a purported link to autism, that have been uniformly debunked by evidence and analysis over the last two decades."

Lauren Gardner, an author of the study and an associate professor in Johns Hopkins University's Department of Civil Engineering, said it was "critical that we proactively identify areas most likely to experience outbreaks to strategically target for surveillance and control" in light of increasing cases.

"There has been a resurgence of measles cases, among other vaccine preventable diseases, in the U.S. and other countries in recent years. Measles, in particular, poses a serious public health threat due to the highly contagious nature of the disease," she said.